12

Gas Power Cycles

. ed w ith cyc les which form the basis of power plant .

This chapter 1s conce rn . . 1n
. fl id is a gas. The gas 1s no rma lly ai r, .or. the products 1
which the wor king u . o
. ff nd air Such power pl ant may be class1f1ed into two mai
combustion o ue I a · . . . n
. engines an d rec1procat1ng engines. The former are
groups - gas tur bine . . .
lant in that the ind1v1dual proces ses. are steady-flow
analogous to st eam P flow
• d t in separate co mpone nts. The latter invo lve non-
.
process es came ou . . . .
ished in a cy linder f itted with. a reciprocating. piston·
processes ace Ompl
With few exceptions, only the id eal cycl es w hic h form the basis of these
engines wi ll be discussed in this ch apter. Gas turb ine cycles foll ow on
natura lly from the previous discussion of vapour power cyc les ; they are
therefo re conside red fi rst, althoug h in a historical survey the order of
presentatio n would be reversed .

12.1 Internal-combustion engines and air-st andar d cycles

In the previou s chapter it was seen that a practic al vapour power cycle can be
devised consisting of two isentropic proces ses and two· constant pressure
processes, i.e. the Rankine cycle. This cycle has a good ideal efficiency, since
most of the heat supplied is transferred at the upper temperature and the whole
of the heat rejected is transferred at the lower temperature. Furthermore the
work ratio is very near unity, and therefore the efficiency is not greatly affected
by irreversibilities . Let us now consider the probable effect on the perfo rmance
of th e cycle of using a gas as the working fluid ; the cycle is then known as t~e10
J~ule (or Brayto n) cycle. The p- v and T- s diagrams for the cycle appear as
Fig.. 12 · l. _A diagrammatic sketch of the plant- known as a closed-c ycle ~as
turbine 1s . also sho wn. Th dunng
. e steady-flow constant pressure process esand the
wh ich heat s
1 transfer d . y
·d , 1 m . re are no longer consta nt temperature processtes,effic1enc
J ca e ic1 cncy must th f b
b,a')C·d upon the maxim · ere ore e apprec iably less than the Carno cycle, ]·..e
• •
r

11 .-- ( T1 _ T1 )/ T3. Also the um and m1mmum temperatures of the(T - T)2 • is

· de of the compressor wor k, Cr 1
magnitu that
an app recia hlc '. ( T - T,4 ), so wer
proportion of th a' t Of t he ex pansio.
the work ratio i<:; co .d n work, cP 3 10
ideal efficiency th an ~~1 erabl~ less than un ity. The cycle has therefore :ible to
e Rank ine cycle, and it is also much more suscep
248
V [ 12.1 ] Ga s Pow er Cyc les

T
12.1 1· d
M· cle app re
Joule er
"e d-cv cle gas
J t"d dose 3
2
~ nd

o the r
e is to find favou r it mus t do so on
irre ver si bilities. Cle a rly, if suc h a cycl
gro und s. by
rce of ene rgy is no rma lly pro vided
Bea ring in min d the f~ct tha t the sou to be
be seen tha t th ere is an ad van tage
the com bus t ion of fuel in ai r, it can tly
is ai r, since the fu el can be burn t d irec
gai ned by usin g a gas cycle if the gas n-cycle
in tern al com bustion lead s to the ope
in the wor k ing fluid . T his idea of lace d
ch the hea ter of the clos ed cycle is rep
gas tu rb'in e pla nt of F ig. 12.2, in whi a use
and the coo ler beco mes s upe rfl uo us bec
by an inte rna l-co mb usti on cha m ber, muc h
to the atm os phe re. The pla n t is th us
the t ur bin e exh a ust gases are rejected iler
ival en t vap our plan t wit h its la rge bo
less bul ky and exp ens ive than an equ lan t
nt ad van tages in the case of pow er p
a nd co n den ser. The se are very imp orta men ts, or
l ow weig ht are imp or ta n t req uire
for tra nsp o rt, whe re sm all size and n the
the cap ital cos t is mo re im por tan t tha
fo r p eak -loa d gen erat ing sets where
r unn ing cost. on
rticu larl y suit able fo r airc raft pro p ulsi
Th e inte rna l-co mb u stio n tu rbi ne is pa (see
er an airs crew or a pro pell ing noz zle
whe n use d in co nj unc tion with eith sha ft
tu rbin e ( Fig. 18.15b ) is used , the net
sec tion 18.4.1 ). W hen a pro pell er sio~
ply sup plie d to the airs crew. If pro pul
wor k ( w3 4 + W1 2 ) in Fig . 12.2 is sim a nd 1t
sup ply me~ ely the co mp ress o r wor k
is by j et, the tur bine is req uire d to y. T he
atm osp hen c pres sure , fr om 3 to 5 sa
uses onl y p a rt of the exp ans ion to

Fg 12 2
Com bust ion cha m ber 3
T
·, "le•nal com busti on
._
-~s huh ne

~ Jet

~---- 4

249
 [12.1 J
Appl icati ons to Part icul ar Fluid s

Fig . 12.3 Q=O

Sche matic
Fuel ~J __ __ .,
intern al -com bust ion
engin e
~ t L ~
Combu st ion
prod ucts

A ir
w

ulsio n nozz le, and the exit

rema ining expansio n, from 5 to 4, occu rs in the prop
10.2b .
veloci ty can be calculated by the me thod of Example
intern al combustion
It sho uld be appreciated that an open-cycle plant with
odyn am ic idea of a heat
depa rts considera bly from the conventional therm
lved at all, and the cycle is
engine. In the therm odynamic sense no heat is invo
process durin g which the
repla ced by a con tinuous, adia batic, stead y-fl ow
a mor e direct way. Power
chemical energy in the fuel is converted into work in
es, and Fig. 12.3 illustra tes
plan t of this kind are called inter nal-combustion engin
Fig. 11. 1). The combustion
the essenti al fea tures comm on to all such plan t ( cf.
it is no lon ger possible to
process is now an integ ral part of the who le, and
of a cycle efficiency and
treat the overall effi ciency of the plan t as the prod uct
chapter. A full analysis of
a com busti on effi cienc y as was done in the previo us
therefo re complex, and it
the perfo rm ance of internal-comb usti on engines is
itself (see Chapters 15
involves cons ideration of the com bustion process
on can be ob tained from
and 17). Fort una tely a grea t dea l of useful informati
a simp lified treatmen t.
plants of Fig. 12.l and
Let us com pare the closed and open gas tur bine
uts differ mainly becau se
Fig. 12.2 a li ttle mor e close ly. First , the net work outp
gases passing through the
the spec ific heat capa cities and mass flow s of the
fluid is air, and in the open
tu rbines are not th e same; in the close d plant the
Secondly , in Fig. 12.1 the
plant the flui d consists of products of com bustion.
to raise the temperature
fu el is cons ume d ex terna lly whil e heat is tra nsferred
fuel is consumed intern ally
of the air from T2 to T3 , whereas in Fig. 12.2 the
whil e ai r at T2 changes to combust ion prod ucts at r3
. Sinc e the maj or prop ortion

nt, it is not surprising th at

of the working fl uid is nit roge n in both types of pla st
q uant it ies of work and of fu el cons ume d are not wide ly different. As a ~r
the
nce of internal-combu st1?n
approx imat ion, usefu l deducti ons a bo ut the performa
air as the work in~ fl uid.
engin ec; ca_n be made fro m equ iva lent gas cycles using
s, and th eir efficiencies are
Thec;e equ ivalent cycles are called air-standard cycle
ca llcli air- standard efficiencies. . da rd
Th e fO IIowin · ·
section s wi
•
ll deal onl y with the perfo rm ance of air-stan..
g
capacities ,
cycle s. It will alwa ys be ass umed th at the ai r has cons tant specific heat
, · ·c energy of the fl uid
hc k111et1 - is the same at inle t and outlet of each
an td h at t
limit ed to cycles wh ich ar~
component. The discuss ion will no t, ho weve r be
also incl ud e the effecl o
'.deal i~ ~~e- se nse of being reve rsible, bu t ,will
d th e turbin e·
irrevers1b1lit1es, i.e. of flui d fr ic tio n, 1·0 the com pressor an

250
 [ 1 2 .2] Gas Pow er Cyc les

12.2 Sim ple ga s t u rb ine cyc le

Ex pressions fo r the effi .
c1ency .
and . work ratio of the Joule cycle shown in
F'
ig. 12.1 can be found in th f turbin e work
ollow~ ng way. The compressor and
tra nsfers, per unit mass, areeresp ectivel y

W12 = (h2 - h1 ) = cp( T2 - Ti)

W34 = (h4 - h3 ) = cp( T4 - T3 )

is
The hea t supplied during the cycle
Q 23 = (h3 - h2) = cp( T3 - T2)

and the cycle efficiency is therefo re

(T2 - Ti)
Y/ = I W3 4 j - I W12I = (T3 - T4) - ( 12.1)
Q 23 (T _ y )
3 2

or - -
res can be related to the pre ssure rati P - P2 I P1 - p3/ p4 .
The ~ycle te~ peratupre .
Fo r 1se ntrop1c com ssion and expansion,
Ti= T 1 r ~- l )/y and T3
= T4 r~- t l/y
Joule
ide al air-standa rd effi ciency of the
Insert! ng these values in ( 12.1), the
cycle 1s fo und to be
1) (y- 1)/y
( 12. 2)
11 =1 - ( -
rP
The work ratio is
+ (_T4 _- T___:_:_3 )
_ Wi 2 + W 34 _ ( T2 - Ti)__
rw - - - - - - _ _ _
W3 4 (T4 - T3)
d to
o r P' this expres sion can be reduce
On int rod uci ng the pressure rati
(1 2.3 )
rw = 1 - Ti r <y-1 )/ y
T3 P

onl y, while
is a function of the pressure rat io
The efficiency of the ideal cycle s, depend
le' s susceptibility to irreve rsibil itie
th e wo rk ra tio, and therefo re the cyc depend on
ncy of the rea l pla nt will therefore
also upo n TL and T3 . Th e effi cie d be as low
pressure ra tio. Ev identl y T, shoul
these temper atu res as we ll as the ic
and T as hig h as pos sib le. In pra ctic e T1 is limited to atm osp her
as possib le 3
by the metallurgica l li mi t, i.e.
re ( say 288 K at sea level). T 3 is fix ed
tem peratu e can
xim um tem per atu re wh ich the highl y stressed par ts of the turbin
the ma and the
tan d . Th e va lue dep end s upo n the life req ui red of the pla nt
wi ths ssion we
t-re sis ta nt allo y ava ila ble , but for th e purpose of the present di scu
hea ti ve fig ure
s is rather hi gher tha n the conserva
may ac,su me a li mi t of 1000 K . Thi lica tio ns of
vio us cha pter, but fo r ma ny app
cho sen fo r steam plan t in the pre possib le to
wo rk in g life is acce pta ble and it is
gas tu rbines a somewhat sho rte r
ensive to use in a large boiler.
empl oy allo ys wh ich are too exp
251
 App licat ions to Part icula r Fluid s
[12.21
Fig . 12.4
Effect of pressure rati o on T
work outp ut and efficiency 0.6
-
0.4
11

/
. .v - -
-~

/
V
0.2 '
I
0V
s 1 3 S 7 9 11 13 15
(a) (b )

Having fixed T and T , the maximum pressure

1 3 ratio theo retically possi ble
is given by

( 12.4)

A glance at Fig. 12.4a shows that this is not

a prac tical value, beca use at this
pressu re ratio the compressor and turbine works
are equal and there is no net
work output. The net output is also zero at a
pressure ratio of unity , so that
there will be some intermediate pressure ratio
at which the work output is a
max imum . The net output per unit mas s, i.e. the
specific work output,* is gi ven by
IW\ = -cp (T2 - Ti) - cp (T4 - T3 )

= -c pT1 { r(r
p tl/Y - l} - c T {
p 3
1
,.(y- 1)/y
p
- l} (12.5 )

Treating T1 and T3 as constant , differentiating

with respect to r P' and equating
d W / dr P to zero, it can be shown that for maximu
m work output
T ) y/ 2(y- 11
rP = ( -T13 or rP --
✓ ( rp)max (12.6)

W! th T1 at 288 K and T3 at l?00 K, the optimum

pressure ratio is 8.8, and_:i~
this value the mass fl ow of air fo r a given power
output, and hence the si_z
plan t, beco mes a min imum . Fig. 12.4 b shows
the variation of idea l effic1encY
with _press ure r~tio obta ined from equation ( 12.2
). Evidently the gain in effici:~~
obtained by usmg a pressure ratio greate r than
8.8 is not very large , and w
probably not be worth th · ·
e accom pany ing mcre ase in · or pIant
· size
. As. soon as com p d . . · . d
111 . resso r an tu rbine inefficiencies are introduce d indicate
hg.~ 2.5, t~e importance of a high wo rk rati o beco , as . w
mes obvious. ~ 10
• I .e
n gas turbin practi ce it ·
rather than its reci I i~ _usua 1 to use the specific . . of plan t size.d
in the previous ch:r~ ca w ich wo uld be the equiv work o ut put as a cnten on rnption use
per. a lent of the specifi c steam consu

252
 [ 12 .2 ] Gas Pow er Cycl es

T
f g 12.5
, . t losses in turbine
etect 0
• ,d compressor

ine wor k and the com p ress o r wo rk

valu e of T3 , the di ffere nce between the turb
in the fo rme r and an incr ease in the
beco mes very sma ll, a nd a sligh t decrease
out put, and cycle efficienc y, to zero .
la tter is sufficient to red uce the work
specific wo rk outp ut beco me rat her
Gen eral exp ress ions fo r cycl e efficiency and
ies are taken in to acco unt, a nd to
unw ield y whe n isen trop ic process efficienc
the perfo rma nce it is easier to mak e
sho w the effect of variatio n of r P and T3 on
in the fo llowing exam ple.
a serie s of calc ulat ions of the type show n

k output of a simple gas turbine

Exampl e 12 .1 Calc ulat e the effic ienc y and spec ific wor
imum and mini mum temperature s
plan t ope rati ng on the Joule cycl e. The max
ectiv ely, the pressure ratio is 6, and
of the cyc le are 100 0 K and 288 K resp
pressor and turbine are 85 and
the isen trop ic efficiencies of the com
90 per cen t resp ectively .
pres sor and turb ine are foun d
The isen tro p ic tem pera tu re chan ges in the com
fr o m
T, (y-1 )/y = 288 X 6°·4 / l.4 = 288 X 1.6685 = 481 K
T2 l -
- l rp

I T3 - 1000 = 1000 = 599 K

T 4 = , <r OtY - 60.4/1.4 I.66 85
p

pres sion is given by

Hen ce the actu al tem pera ture afte r com
T~ - T1 _ 48 1 - 288 = 227 K
T2 - T, = 11c - 0.85

or
T2 = 515 K
gi ven by
T he act ua l tem pera ture afte r ex pa nsio n is
_ (T _ T' ) = 0.90 (!00 0- 599) = 36 1 K
T3 - T4 - 'lr J 4

or
T4 = 639 K
253
r <
Applic ations to Parti cu la r Flui ds
[12.3 l

T he comp ressor a nd tu rb ine work s a re

W12 = cp( T2 - T,) = J.005( 5 15 - 288 ) = 288 kJ / kg
W 34 = cp( T4 - T3) = 1.005(639 - 1000 ) = - 363 kJ / kg
a nd th e hea t added is
Q2.i = cp (T3 - T2) = J.005( 1000 - 51 5 ) = 487 k J / kg
T herefo re th e cycle efficie ncy is

,,, = I( W,2 + W34)I = 13 5 = 0.277

Q23 487
a nd the specific work outpu t is
I WI= /(W12 + W34 )1 = 135 kJ / kg or kW pe r kg / s of air
The res ul ts of calcul ations simila r to the foreg oing, but
for di fferen t val ues of
r P a nd T3 , are gi ve n in Fig. 12.6. The effi cienc y
of the ir re versible cycle is a
fu nction no t only of rP but also of T • There is an optim
3 um press ure rat io for
maxim um cycle effi ciency as well as an optim um press
ure ratio for maximum
specific work o utput, altho ugh these optim um press ure
ratios are not the same.
The la tter pressu re ratio would proba bly be adop ted in
an actua l plant , becau se
it result s in the small est plant and the efficie ncy curve is
fairly fl a t in th is region.
Th e ideal effic iency curve is also show n in Fig. 12.6, to
emph as ise th e ma rked
reduc tion in efficiency cau sed by irreve rsibili ties in the
co mpre sso r and turbine.
Th e fo ll owing sec tion dea ls with the more im porta nt modi
fica tions to the simple
cycle wh ich m ay be adop ted to impro ve both the ideal effici
ency and work ratio.

12.3 Gas turb ine cycl es with heat exch ange , inter cool
ing and
rehe ating

12.3.1 Simp le cycle with heat excha nger

Wi t h norm a l va lu es of th e press ure ratio and turbin

e inle t tempe ra ture, the
turbin e out let tempe ra ture is a lways above the comp resso
r outle t te mpera ture.

F ig . 1 2 .6
The si mple cycle wi th
T, 288 K. 1/c - 0 85, 11
1/T = 0 90
~160 ~---+--,,, ~~t: ::~~ ~~
:::;
c:...

5 7 9 II 13 15
r

254
 [12.3] Gas Power C ycle s

T
12.7
i9 le with hea t
; ... p.e eye
X
·,;~ 3ng e

Fuel

t 3
2

dition of a
An impro vemen t in perfo rmanc e can therefo re be effected by the ad
tu rbine to the
heat excha nger which transf ers heat from the gases leavin g the
dard cycle
air before it enters the comb ustion chamb er. The equiva lent a ir-stan
to occur in a
th en a ppear s as in Fig. 12. 7. By arrang ing fo r the beat excha nge
y possib le for
count er-flo w heat excha nger ( see sectio n 24.1 ), it is theore ticall
the tempe ra tu re of the comp ressed air to be raised from T2 to
T,. = T4 , while
point in t he
the gas lea ving the turbin e is cooled from T4 to Ty = T2 . At each
an in fini tesima l
heat excha nge process the heat is being transferred over
revers ible a nd
tempe ra ture di fferen ce, so tha t the process can be regard ed as
the cycle a s id eal.
heat requi red
The effec t of th e heat excha nger is to red uce the amou n t of
fro m an ex tern al so urce to
( 12.7)

ea sily be shown
T he ne t work outpu t and work ratio a re unc hange d, bu t it can
that the ideal ai r-stan dard efficie ncy now becom es

Tl ( y - 1)/y ( 12.8)
17=1 - - r P
T3
the ma xi mum
In this ca se, the lower the press ure ra tio the highe r the efficie ncy,
ncy based upo n
value being ( T3 - T1 ) / T3 when r P = 1. This is the Ca rn o t efficie
s res ult is no t
the max imum and m in im um tempe ra tu res of the cycle. Thi
tra nsfers tend to
su rpri sin g becau se, as rP is reduce d to unit y, the ext ernal heat
(see Fig. 12.4a ).
take place mo re nearly a t th e upper and lower tempe rat ures
the si mple cycle
The efficie ncy curves, show n in Fi g. 12.8a, meet the curve fo r
s po int the heat
where the p ressu re rat io is such th at T2 = T4 , becau se a t thi
is a ppa rent th a t
exc hange r beco mes superfl uous. Equa ting ( 12.8) and ( 12. 2), it
this occu rs when
T) y1 2, r-1J
,. = ( ~
p Ti
(see eq uation
1.e. a t the op timum pressu re ra ti o for maxi mu m wo rk ou tput
255
 Applicat ions to Particul ar Fl u ids

Fig . 1 2 .8
EHect o f heat exchange o n f , == l lf~l K
l]
eff,c1oncy 11
Im pe rfec t heat '->-d i·
/ angq

/
II 4 /
r" tt, r m,1x W~)fk /
/
output
I
(J 2 '-.1mrle ( ~cle I
I I
I
I I
()
15
l j 5 7
(ti)
9 lI
,,.13 (h)

( 12.6) ). Clearly, if a heat exchanger is to be used, a press ure ratio somewhat

less than the optimum must be adopted. Fig. 12.8a emphasises a fact which is
obvious from the T- s diagram, which is that the higher the value of T , the
3
greater is the advantage to be obtained from the addition of a heat exchanger.
In practice the heat exchanger is never ' perfect', and the actual temperature
Tx reached by the compressed air is always less than T4 . This results in a major
change in the shape of the efficiency curves because, as r P tends to unity and
the net work output tends to zero, the external heat supplied no longer tends
to zero. The result is that at r P = 1 the efficiency has a value of zero, instead
of the Carnot efficiency as with the ideal heat exchanger . An actual efficienc\
curve therefore appears as shown in Fig. 12.8b.

12.3.2 lntercooli ng and reheating

The addition of a heat exchanger improves the ideal efficiency but d~es nhlit
· prove t he work ratio.
im · The latter may be increased · her reductn°c t e
by e1t
compresso r work inpu t or increasing the turbine work o utput. . e
C ons1'der t he com pression wo rk first. The curvature of the cons t·ant pre,sur · ·es
. . .
line-; on th e T- s diagram 1s such that the vertical distance between t hen1 decre3)f the
. I d· ·
in t ic irection of the arrow in F ig. I 2.9a. Therefore the fur ther to the let . , the
. .. . d (0 drtl t
com prc..,..,ion 1- 2 takes place, the smaller is th e work require . 1ur(.
. d te1
nper, 1 .
com~rc<,">or. State I 1s determined by the a tm ospheric pressure an .th the air
hu t if th c com pressio n i'-i ca rried ou t in two stages, 1- 3 a nd 4- _S. wi ressi0n
cooled at Lom ta nt prc-;surc /J1between th e sta ges, some reduction in corni1- fil
~ ork cun he ohta incd. The sum of the temperatu re rises ( T3 - Ti) and ( ·
1
" clc~irl y Je..,.., than the temperatu re ri se (T - T ).
· T ~ f..
Idea lly, it 1"' possible to cool the a ir to at~osp~e ric temperatur~, 1·\e;1tfl'r•:
· d .in h' · 1
,tn t i,; case the in tercoolin g is said to be comp/ere. With •

256
 [1 2. 3] ycles
Gas P ow er C

T T
,9 d re heat ing
,, 1•
..
,; ·~ Jn
2

P,

A tm osph en c
te mpe rat ure

s
(a) (h I

.
tercooli ng th e compression wo rk is
.
d complet e in
co m pression an
W-
cP ( ½ - ¼)

.
- cp(T3 - Ti )+

- CP T, { ( :: y- IJi> -

.
J} + cP T, { ( ;:
.
r IJ ' _ J }

ill depe n d on th e choi

m te lrn es sure Pi-
rcoo g prun
wo rk w e of_t~e to be
T he sav ing W/ dpi to zero the co d't'10n ior mm1mum work is fo d
m rc
By eq u a tin g d , n 1

(1 2.9)
Pi = J (P1P2)
Hence

i P2
j (p)
= P: = ✓rP
( 12. 10)

;P; = Pi = r p1 or rp i

ts
m pr es sio n ra tio s and work in pu
ork , the co
s fo r m in im u m com p ress o r w
Thu of
r the tw o st a ge s are eq ual. r th er by in cr ea sin g the nu mbe r
fo ced fu
co m p re ss io n work ca n be redu p le xi ty an d co st make mor e than
Th e tiona l co m r
an d in te rc o o le rs, bu t the addi le to ge n er al is e th e expressio n fo
stages is p os sib e
r th re e st ag es un econ o mic. It ag es an d to sh o w that th e pre ss ur
two o co ve r n st
in im u m co m p ressio n wo rk to
the m .
a ll st ag es m us t be equ al.
of re he at in g du rin g the ex pa nsion
ra tios in to th e idea t
m h er e it is o n ly a sm all ste p ed pr ev io u sl y in section 11.4. bu
Fro mention d
ri n ci p le o f re he a ting ha s been oi stu re in th e steam tur bine, an
The p excess ive m ed.
th e m ai n o b je ct was to av o id ki ne cy cl e, is p rac tica lly un a ffect
there the Ran k
rk ra tio , al re ad y nea r un it y in pr in ci p al ly to increa se th e wor
the w o in e plant of
ti n g is em p lo ye d in gas turb tp u t a nd d ec rease th e effect
Rehea wo rk ou g
an d so in cr ea se the speci fic le va nt p ar t. of 11_,e _cy~le showin
ra tio, e s the re lim 11, 1.e. Tg = Tr,
.
n e nt lo ss es . F ig. J 2.9b ill us trat the m et al l ur g1 ca l
compo a ting to
o stages wit h re he to
easeJ fr om I W6 1I
a n si on in tw
an exp e w ork is in cr
o f the tu rbin
Th e mag nitud e - Ti o!
- ½ ) + c,.(l'q iate
W .6. 8 I + / iV Q,J O
r I= c 1(
I
~
·o n th e optim um inte rm ed
I • · n trop 1c ·
w ith se
1 expa ns,
· to sh ow th a t 257
It is po ss ible
 App licat ions to Part icula r Fluid s
[ 12.31
Fig. 1 2 .10
The gas t urbin e plant with
r
inter co oling , heat exch ange
and rehe ating

10

1
1nte rcoo\ er
y

pres sure, this time for max imum work outp ut,
is give n by
P; =J (P6P7) or rpi= J rP ( 12. 11 )
Reh eatin g can also be extended to mor e than two
stag es, alth o ugh th is is seldom
don e in practice, and with open -cycle plan t a limi
t is set by the oxygen available
for com bust ion.
Alth oug h inte rcoolers and rehe ater s imp rove
the wor k ratio , these devices
by themselves can lead to a decr ease of idea l
cycl e efficiency. This is because
the heat supplied is incre ased as well as the net
wor k outp ut. The full advantage
is only reali sed if a heat exch ange r is also incl
uded in the plan t, as shown in
F ig. l 2. 10. The addi tion al heat requ ired for the
cold er a ir leaving the comp ressor
can then be obta ined from the hott er exha ust
gase s, and there is a gain in ideal
cycle efficiency as well as wor k rat io.
It is wor th cons idering briefl y wha t hap pen
s if the idea of multistage
com press ion and expa nsio n, wi th intc rcoo ling
, rehe atin g and heat exchange. is
ca rried to its logic al conclusion. Fig. 12. l I show
s a cycle with a large number
of such stages. 1t is evident that with an infin
ite num ber of stages this cycle
wou ld have all its hea l add iti on at the upp er
tem pera ture T , and all its heat
3

Fig . 1 2 .1 1
T
The Erics so n cycle

s
258
J
(12 .5] Gas Pow er Cyc les

perature T Th .
reJe ct io n at the low er atem
d th ffi . e com pression and ex pansion pro cesses
become isothermals i .
effi ciency,
i e ( T _ T )/ T Th . n I e _e call cien cy of th e cycle eq uals the Ca rn ot
. . 3 i 3. is eye e is ed the Ericsson cycle.

12.4 Clo sed -cy cle gas tur bin e

. . a clo sed cycle
In .section 12. 1 it. was impli ed th a t a gas turbine v,o rk mgh on .
· . ival ent stea m
( Fig . 12. 1) had little to commend 1·t m comparison with t e equ .
d e been buil t an d the type
pla nt. Neverthe . less several c ose -eye 1e plants hav ·
J

me ntion here. some 1ea r tures favo unng the closed- cyc le gas
deserv. es a bnef
turbine are as foll ows:
le
i.e. the general press ure level of th e cyc
(a) Th e systcn:1 may be press urised,
the components ca n be red uced fo r
may be raised, so that the siLe of all
the same mass flo w. load
possibl e to acco mmoda te cha nges in
(b) With a press urised system it is
the circu it instead of by reducing the
by va rying the mass flow of fl uid in
n-cycle gas turb ine . The effi ciency
turbine inlet temperature as in an ope
valu e obtai ned when run nin g at the
at pa rt load will then be clo se r to the
design co ndition. tio n
be use d as a fue l because the combus
(c) Co al, or oil of poo r qua lity, can
.
gases do not pass through the turbine air. A
It is pos sib le to use a gas hav ing more favourabl e prope rties than
(d)
equation ( 12.2) sho ws that the cycle
simple calculatio n with the aid of ich
y is increas ed from 1.4 to 1.67 , wh
efficiency is imp roved if the value of
such as helium and argon. He lium ,
is the value fo r all monatomic gases t
ause of its lower rela tive mo lecu lar mass, possesses much better hea
bec
is, it has a higher thermal conductivi ty,
transfe r characteristic s tha n air; tha t
velocities for the same pressu re los s.
and it permits the use of higher fl uid ly
hea t exchanger s wo ul d be appreciab
The net resul t is that the size of the
ponents designed for use with air.
sm aller th an that of equiva len t com
have used air as the work ing fluid .
If the
All closed-cycle pla nts built so far ines
r came to fruition , closed-cycle gas turb
high-te mp era ture nuclea r reactor eve ld be
e choice of power plant. Helium cou
using helium would be an appropriat for a
r core and there wo uld be no need
passed directl y thro ugh the reacto .
l temperat ure drops tha t th is ent ails
secondary fl uid with all the wastefu

l es
12.5 Co mb ine d gas and ste am cyc
ilable
adv ant age of a bin ary cycle in makin g the bes t use of the ava
The I J. I 0.
e an d sin k was pointed ou t in sect ion
temperat ure di/Tere nce between so urc re
turbin e al a modera tely hi gh temperatu
Because the ex ha u, l gases leave a gas kine
energy therein to form stea m fo r a Ran
(abo ut 600 K) it i') po'isibl e to use th e nt,
nts are often refe rred to as CO GAS pla
cycle pla nt. Such combined pow er pla at io n.
an increa sing num her are bei ng built for base-load electricity ge ner
and de
used to mak e the best use of th e low -gra
A dua l-pressure steam cycle might be icted
cycles fo r nu clea r powe r pla nt and dep
heat, as exp lain ed in sec tion 11.7 on
259
 A p plicat io ns to Part icula r F lu ids
[ 1l .5 ]
· F.
m 1g. 11.-13. The only ch a nge is that t he t urb ine exh a ust gases replace h
reacto r coola nt in the fi gure. t e
Because o f the res tricti on on the m a ximum tempera ture wh ich th
.
blad es ca n with sta nd , g~~ t urbmes .h h' h . e turb1
o perate w it _a ve ry ig air / fuel ratio. O~e
conseque nce is that addi tional fu el can be burnt m the ample oxygen re . . e
. .
to usmg t e com p 1ex dual- pressu ma1n1ng
in the exha ust gases. An alte rnat ive h
.
cycle therefore is to b urn fu el in the steam boiler a nd use a h igher-re stea111
, ' . pressure
simple steam cycle. Lo~-gra d e _fuel ca n be used fo r th is part of the cycle. The
so lu tio n to be preferred m practtce depends upon t he effect of the rela tive c .
. . . apl\al
cost o f the different types o f boiler u pon the cos t o f the electric ity produce
Combine d cycle pla nt efficienci es of abou t 45 per cent are possible. d.
At present mos t COGAS plan t a re d esigned b y tak ing a well-tried gas turbi
and designing a steam turbine to suit it. The p ractice is ech oed in the followi ~;
ex a mple, where we make use of the gas turbine data of Exam ple 12. l.

Exampl e 1 2.2 A sim ple Rank ine cycle usin g superhe ated _stea m at 1 6 bar and con densing
at 0 .04 bar is t o be add ed to t he gas turbin e plant of Example 12.1. From
t he cyc le calcu latio ns of t hat exampl e it can be see n th at the gas tu rbine
exhaust tem perature is 639 K = 366 °C, the spec ific work output is 135 kW
per kg / s of air, and t he heat input is 487 kW per kg / s of air. The gas turbine
engine is to be of such a size as to produce 1 00 MW of power. Making the
fol lowing assum pt ions, determ ine the power del ivered by the Rankine plant
and the overal l efficienc y of the combine d cycl e, neglecti ng th e feed pu mp
w ork :

(a) The min imu m tempera ture d ifference between gas and steam or water
is to be 20 K.
( b) The ise ntro pic effic iency of the steam turb ine is 0 .85 .
( c) Th e temperature of th e g as leaving the steam boiler should be at least
170 °C to avoid corrosio n du e to condens ation of water vapour in the
products of combu stion .

F ig. 12.~ 2 shows the h- s diagram for the steam turbine expan sion and
th e T- H d iagram for th e gas turbine ex haust products a nd th e stea~
cycle. State 4 correspo nds to th e gas turbine exit sta te on Fig. 12.5. The air

Fig. 12.1 2
3137 346 °c T
221.4 °C
h
lkJ/kgj
6
201.

2 I 78 i - - - - - - ~
2126 I - - - - - - - "

s
H
260
 le s
[1 2. 5 ] Ga s Po w er C yc

q ui re d i or th e ga s tu rb in e is
m as s fl ow ra te re
I W/ 10 00 00 kW
,,.,G
=-
5 k W / (k I = --:-
5
:-
kW
:---
/ (kg
~/ s)
_- 740. 7 kg / s
13 gs) 13
. 4 . in t st at e 5 is
T he ga s e nt h al py ch an ge be t t
w ee n tu rb in e ex it sa te a nd th e pi nc h po
Jj _ iJ _ . _ ~)
5 4 - m0 cP ( Ts
1 005(221 .4 - 36 6) = -1 07 60 0 kW
= 740.7 X.
ea m :
·
m us t be eq ua l to th e m ag ni.tu de of th e en t h al py ch an ge of th e st
Th is
60 0 _
h - hs ) an d m s= 10 7 859 - 47.23 kg / s
H9 - if s = m s( 9 31 37 -
.
th a1 d . rb in e fro m th e h-
s ch ar t is
T he 1s en tr op ic en PY ro p m th e tu
J / kg
- h ,o = 31 37 - 21 26 = 1011 kg
h9
T he s te am tu rbin
e po w er is
x 1011 = 40 60 0
kW
o) = 47 .2 3 x 0. 85
I Ws / = rhs 11r( h9 - h~
a nd

ficie nc y = total po wer o ut pu t

co m bi ne d cycle ef he at in pu t to ga s tu
rbine

10 0000 + 40 60 0 0 39 0
740. 7 X 48 7 =
·
so
al on e, fr om Ex am ple 12. 1, w as 0. 277,
an ~
th e ga s t_ur~ine pl
T ~e effi cie nc y of l rn cr se m efficie
ncy.
th is re pr es en ts a su bs ta nt ia ea
re of th e ga s le av ing th e boil er,
ra tu
ch ec k th e te m pe 7 - 8 is
W e ha ve ye t to th al py ba la nc e be t w ee n 5 -6 an d
o f~ - A n en
na m ely th e va lue
7;;)
,n5 (h 8 - h7 ) = m0 cp(Ts -
kl / kg at 0.04 ba r,
A s h7 ~ hr = 121 / [ °C ] )
85 9 - 12 1) = 74 0. 7( 22 1. 4 - 7;;
47 .2 3(
m in im um
d 7;; be en be low th e re qu ir ed
It fo llo w s th at
7;; = 174.3 °C. H a ne ce ss ar y to ha ve m od if
i ed th e st ea m
ve be en
0 °C , it wo uld ha
te m p e ra tu re o f 17 lcul atio n.
at ed th e w ho le ca
pr es,;; ur e a nd re pe at ga s
re m a r ks a bo u t C O G A S cy cl es th
in g
u s fr o m th e fo re go hea l bo ile rs to pr
od uc e
It shou ld be ob v io ct io n w i th w as te
be us ed in co nj un is ye t a no th er fo
rm of
tu rb in es ca n al so use in fa ct o ri es ; th is
r ho t w a te r fo r
pr oc es s s te am o di sc us se d in se c li on
I 1. 8.
a t th e
t ,
co ge ne ra ti on ( o
r C H P ) pl an
rb in es , it is w or th e m ph as is in g th
tu
e s ub je c t o f ga s hi ch c:m be m ul ti
pl ie d an d
Bef or e leav in g th a te co m po ne n ts w
rr ie d ou t in se p ar o at te m pt
p ro ce ss es ar e ca to s ui t di ff e re n t ap pl ic at i on s. N
ay s . F or this
in a va ri et y of w w hi ch is po ss ib le
lin ke d to ge th e r e ac t ua l di ve rs ity
re to in di ca te th
ha s be e n m ad e he 261
 ,-- - ·· ·····- ~·~· · ··~ ... ," " ' "' • ~
c ycl '
es wl11• ch f • • -J ll ~ ln lh1-
of rcci prOl.:ating internal-co mb .
' ") Vl , ,u -.) l <.U ll..lu lU
. orm th
ust ion engme s. )
c basi~

12 .6 Re c ipr o ca tin g en g ine cy

c les
So fa r in the discussion of
va po ur an d gas po we r cycles
cycle as a sen.es of ste ady-flo w we ha ve tho u h
proces ses , eac h bem
. .
g ear ne d ou g t of th
co mp onent. Th e turbi ne has t in a e
. the refore alway s bee n reg ard sep arat
po we r pro du cin g com po nen t. . . ed as the e
As will be see n m Ch ap ter 19, the turbine benatural
very sm all for low powe r ou .
tputs, 1.e. fo r sm all ma ss fl ow
an d the effect of viscou s fr ict ion s of working~~ fl .
sm all pla nt the pro cess efficie
becomes rel ~ti v~ly gre at. Co nse
nc y of the tur bin e 1s very low
. It is
quently,
usually on\ ,
f~;d~
pra ct ica ble to thi nk in terms
of a turbin e pla nt if the po we
se ver al hu nd red kilo wa tts . r req uir ed is at lea;t
T he com bin ation of steady-flo
w com po nen ts int o a powe r
on ly me thod of ob tainin g me plant is not the
cha nical po wer from the com
sm all po we rs it is usu all y prefer bu stion of fuel. For
ab le to em ploy a cycle co nsistin
of no n-flow processes . A given g of a succession
mass of wo rking flu id can be
ser ies of proces ses in a cylind er taken thro ugh a
fitt ed wit h a reci pro cati ng pis
pro ces ses are mu ch mo re ne ton. Such non -fl ow
arl y reversible tha n the rap
oc cu rri ng in a t urb ine or a ro id flo w pro cesses
tary com pre sso r (see sectio n
A sec on d ad va nta ge of the 5.4 .1 ).
recipr oc ati ng en gine is tha t
pe rm iss ible tem pe rat ure of the the maxim um
wo rki ng fluid is mu ch higher
t urb ine pla nt ( ~ 2800 K co mp than it is in a
ared wit h ~ 100 0 K in a gas
bec aus e the cylind er of the int turbine). Thi s is
erm itte ntly wo rki ng rec ipr oca
exp ose d to the pea k tem pe rat tin g engine is only
ure of the fluid for a sm all fr act
of a co mplet e cycle. Th e cyl ind ion of the duration
er tem pe rat ure the refore never
thi s pe ak val ue. It follows even app roaches
tha t me tal lur gic al con sid era
str ingen t in a rec ipr oca tin g en tio ns are mu ch l~ss
gine. Th e chief dis ad va nta ge
en gine is the co mp ara tiv ely low of a rec ipro cati ~;
. rat e a t wh ich it can han dle the
.
T his fea tur e ma kes 1t excess ive working fl ui ·
· ed h ly bu lk y an d he avy wh en lar ge powe r outputs
are req uir · of
. T ere 1s . 11.
cou rse a ran ge of po we r ou tpu here cip rocat1°~
an d tu rbine pla nt are co m pe t w re f \ly
titive, an d their rel a ti ve me rits
app rec iat ed afte r a readin g of wil l be mo re u
I 1·k h Ch a pters 17 a nd 19.
- e t e no rm al type of gas tur . ginc
bin e pla nt, the pra cti cal recipr ·
do c\ no t U\C an exte rna l he at oc at1n gicencycle.
so urce or em ploy a tru e the
bu t de ri ve<; ih energy fr om the rmod yna": fluid-
dir ect co m bu stio n of fu el in
the wo rkin dgpic
T he en gin e tak e\ in a ir a nd fue
· f· · 12 , l a nd reJ·ect s pro du cts of ·00 as e ted
st1
in ig. •
. .L T he act ua , co mb u . will be
l pro cesses occu r rm . . . · ng1nes
d · b l · g rn rec 1pr oca tm g e jvalc0t
~\U l cc m C ha pte
r 17, a nd here we sha ll co 1 the equ
air -st an da rd cycles with ext ern nsid er on Y . the p\:iC,
al hea t add it ion a nd rej ect ion taki ng
0f ·
mte rn a· l com bustio ·
n a nd reJ . . re three
· · . ect i on of ho t exh a ust gases. Th ere · a ·oe
im po rta nt ai r-st an da rd cycles
wh ich for m th e ba sis of all pra · 1rec1Procati ·
ctica
26 2
 ,
[ 12 .7] Gas Powe r Cycles

p 3
r19 12.13 p 2 3
· tt o and Diesel cycl es
The 0

4
4
1
L ex: swe pt volu me ~
L' L'
(b )

0---· (a )

engi nes; they are the Otto, Diesel, and du al or mixed cycles. A few other cycles
have_ been used and will be mention ed briefly, but so fa r they have not attained
any importance.

12.7 Ot to , Diesel and m ixed cycles

The Otto cycle fo rms the basis of spark-ignition and high-speed compression-
ignition engines. The fou r non-fl ow processes comprising a complete cycle are
shown in Fig. 12.13a. They may be imagined to occur in a cylinder fit ted with
a reciproc ating pisto n having a swept volume equal to m( v1 - v2 ) , where m is
the mass of flui d in the cylinder . The processes are as fo llows:
1- 2 Air is compressed isen tropicall y throu gh a volume ratio v1 / v2 , known as
the compression ratio rv •
2-3 A quantity of heat Q23 is added at constant volume un til the air is in state 3.
3-4 The air is expand ed isentropically to the original volume.
4- t Heat Q4 1 is rejected at constan t volume until the cycle is completed.

The efficiency of the cycle is

!WI Q23 + Q41
YI = - =
Q23 Q23
Assu mi ng consta nt specifi c hea t ca pacities fo r the air, and considerin g uni t mass
of fluid , the hea t transfers are
T) Q4 1 =cv(T1 -T4)
Q23 = Cl,(TJ - 2 '

Con sequently
T4 - Ti
r/ = t - T - T2
3
263
 . Part icular Fluids
Applications to

For the two isentro pic processes,

T2 T3_ ,- 1
-== -- rv
Ti T*
By algebraic manipulation we then have
T2 Ti T4- T1=T4
l - - == I - - or T T T
T3 T4 3 - 2 3

Hence the ideal cycle efficiency becomes

T3 - T4
11 = (12.12)
T3
or, in terms of the compression ratio,
1
>1
., = 1- -y- 1
(12.l3)
rv
The maximum possible efficiency based upon the maximum and minimum
temperatures of the cycle, i.e. the Carnot efficiency, is (T3 - T1 )/ T3 . Eq uation
( 12.1 2) indicates that the cycle efficiency is less than this, since T4 > T1. This
result is to be expected because the heat addition and rejection do not take place
at the upper and lower temperatures. Equation ( 12.13) emphasises the important
fact that the efficiency depends only on the compression rati o and not upon
the peak temperature T3 • The specific work output, on the other hand, does
increase with increase of T3 .
In the Diesel cycle* the heat addition occurs at constant pressure instead of
constant volume. The cycle is shown in Fig. t 2. 13b, and consis ts of the following
processes:
1-2 Ai r is co mpressed isentropi cally through the compression ra tio rv == V1/ 112 ·
2- 3 Heat Q2 3 is added while the air expand s at constant pressure to volume
V3. At state 3 the heat supply is cut off and the volume ratio V3 / v2 may
conve?i~ntly be called the cut-off ratio re.
3 4
The air is .exp~nded isentropically to the original volu me.
4- 1 Heat Q4 1 is reJected at constant volume until the cycle is completed.

The heat transfers in th is cycle are

Q23 = Cp( T3 - T2 ),
Hence the efficie ncy is

n _ Q23 + Q4L T4 - T
., - - - ---- = I - 1
Q23 y( T3 - T2)

=~-~- ------ ----- -------;

· strictl y speaki ng am ·
* Th e i'.ame is . ected to\, a J
bu1ld1ng an engine v. h1ch wo Id h1snomer, beca use Diesel ·s effort s were originall y dtr le A_.~r,,1
Stuart was the fi rst to b ·1ctu ave the Carn ot cycle as its equ ivalent ai r-standa rd eye!
· wor king on th e so-cal led Diese
ui a successf u I engine · I c}· C r:
 [1 2.7 ] Gas Power Cycles

The efficien . terms of r v and re m

cy can be ex press ed m . the following way:
T

;. = ,;- , and hence T, = T,(:J,-,

For the consta nt pressure proces s,
T3
T2 = re and hence T3 = T2re

Also

~4=(~3)y-l =(v 3v2)y- t =(!j_ )y-1

3 4 V2 V4 rV

and hence

Substitu ting fo r Ti , T3 and T4 in the expression for the efficiency, we have

( 12.14)
Y/ l { ri - l }
= 1 __
r ~-i y(rc- 1)

Evidently the efficie ncy of the Diesel cycle depends upon re , and hence upon
the quantity of heat added, as well as on the compression ratio r Since the
11 •

te rm in braces is al ways greater than unity (except for the tri vial case where
re = 1 and there is no heat addition), the Diesel cycle always has a lower
efficiency than the Otto cycle of the same compression ratio (Fig. 12.14). This
is no t a very signific ant result because, as will be explain ed in Chapter 17,
practical engines based upon the Diesel cycle can emplo y higher compression
ratios than those based on the Otto cycle.
The beha viour of many reciprocating engines is more adequa tely represe nted
by the dual or mixed cycle shown in Fig. 12. I5. In this cycle part of the heat

: , 1214 0.80
•-. r ,. I"':
. ~ cv of the Diesel
11
;•:,, 'or various cut-off
. ,s 0.60 L---1-- +---t-

0.40
UM W ~H -t- tti l

0.20
LJ LU-t-+-H -t- iil1
21 25
t7
I3
9 265
5
 App lic at ion s to Pa rt icu lar
Flu id s

Fig . 12 .15
p 3
The mixed or d ual cyc le

5
1
V

Fig . 12.1 6
T
Com pari son of cycl es

addi ti on occurs during a constant vol

ume process and the remainder during
consta nt pressure process. Writing 1· a
v = v 1 / v , re = v / v and
possi ble to sho w that the efficien cy 2 4 3 rP = p3 / P2, it is
is given by
n- 1 - I - rp _rY - 1
--~ c_ _ _ __
.,- 1
. y- (
I V r p - 1) + yr p (·I C - I) ( 12.l 5)
Fig. 12. 16 shows the three cycles on
the T- s diagram. They have been draw
for th e case where both the compressio n
n ratios and the hea t inputs are the sam
for each. The qua ntity of hea t rejected ~
.m the can be seen from the areas to be l~as
Ott o cycle and greate st m . the .
Die sel cycle. Wi.tho ut recourse tO equ atio ns
( 12.13 ), ( 12. 14) and ( 12. 15 ), therefo l
re, it can be seen tha t the air-standard
efficiencies decrease in the ord er Ott eye e
o, mixed, Diesel.

12. 8 Me an eff ec tiv e pre ssu re as a

cri ter ion of pe rfo rm an ce
.
In <.,ec tion 11 .1 tl. was ex pl ain
. .
. . . ed tha t the ideal cycle efficiency is no t the on,lV
.
criterion by whi ch a cycle shou ld be . be
jud ged . Th e wo rk hown
ratio was . . d. ates
5 to
ano t her LI 'ie f u I cn·len•on of the per · e 1t 1n tC
th e <; usc cptibi for ma nce of stea dy- flo w cyc les, stn c
lity of the cycle to irreversibi lities and t \\·iii
also wheth er th e plan
be small or large per unit pow er out
put. . a single
In a rec iproca ting engine, where the
, · • pro ces ses a re ca rri ed out ,n ·n the
co mp onen t, it is nol so easy to iso . . • work 1
late the positiv e and negativ e
266
 G11 Powe r Cy cl es
[12 8]

,n/

I
I
Equal area~

rI

th is rea son an o the r criterion ' ca lled the ,1•, l 1,1 t tt·t'(( /f {' ['f( ''\ ,\ / lf l' , J,
c
\cl • fo r .
c~clc~ of
~.
rk rati o wh en co mparing air-st, inu.ird
L~uJllY preferred . to the wo , , th ~ height
ng en gin es. Th e_ me a n effe ~tiv e pre,,ure Pm b detincJ 1
n:upro cat i ,1,h the 9 cle.
gle on t~ e p ~v dia gra m ha"in g the same length anJ ,1rc
l1I a rec~an rhut
I 7, from "' h1ch n ,~ ap par ent
This 1s 11luslra lcd m Fig. 12.

Pm( v1 - 1>2 ) = f pd v = -W ( 12. 16 )

Pm can he regard ed
re - W is the ne t wo rk ou tpu t pe r uni t mass of fl uid . n
\\ he
ss ure wh ic h, by ac tin g on the piston ove r on e 1itroke, ca
a, tha t co nstant pre effe cti ve pre ssure, unlike the
wo rk
rk of the cyc le. Th e me an
prod uce the ne t wo thod of
en sio nle ss, an d it wil l he re be expres sed in bars. A me
ratio, is not dim cribe d in
me an effect ive pre ssu res of act ual engines is des
e1 alu ati ng the
sectio n 16.2. mean effecti ve
ua tio n ( 12 .1 6) it is ev ide nt th at a cycle wi th a large
From eq ume, and he nce
wil l pro d uce a lar ge wo rk outpu t per unit swep t vol
pressu re wo rk ou tput.
ba sed on thi s cy cle will be small for a given
an eng ine low pro cesses,
bilitie s du e to vis co us fric tion are usu ally sm all in non-f
Irre\er si uce d as in cer tain
a co nsi de rab le am o un t of turbulen ce is artificially introd
1nl ess ble signi fica nce in
of com pre ssi on -ig nit ion engine. Wha t is of con sidera ft
t:, pes n, wh ich res ults in the use ful sha
is me cha nic al fric tio
rec iproca tin g eng ines do ne by the fluid on the pi sto
n.
bly les s tha n the wo rk
pov.er bei ng ap precia ase in engine siz e. a large me
an
cti on de cre ase s wit h de cre
~inLe mechanica l fri the C) cle
im pli es tha t a sm aJl er fraction of the net wo rk of
ef ..:L!n e press ure
nn er.*
),J!I be d1 1iipa ted in thi s ma n fo r ~he
tha t the me an efT ect i ve press ure is a use ful criter io_
It follows rclatn c c~gim:
oc ati ng en gin e cycles in th at it indi cn tcs l
cnr,-, pamo n of rec ipr
· .y wi ll (.kr·1
. e c1r.11cie nc.: ' . a
rt fro m the ide
ze an l
· d a \O how far the ac tua l en gin e,c l
il lus tra tio n of thi s, co ni;idcr the modifi cati on to th e D1
(:Ve.le efficie ncy . A', an
t1 f ul t'
rc, , ll rt' 111 d (li e .11t·r.1 ~•t' .1hs rl~ tf
~
• '1 ech . Ihe pc.t p I , I r; rtt' l ()\ \t', r Irr ll ul.1
I
to ,omc CXren ,t on
n ani c.a l fnet ton abo Jepen(h . 1,~u rt \
l · l 10 vrc; tlt"r ,~. 1 r-L'r u hi/ 111 rn rn c:d1.1n 1.:.1
CIH l
,,rc.,, ure Jeve l c.Ju nng the cycle · h1c" hi.:r pre I rr·r L rir en!l n 111 r•,l' ' 111 c:,, ure . 111, , crit e11tln
Iubrrc· r· . . perfect. lt has bee , )!c, tcd rhalr a ,c , l: re
. a ion t, trn n ~ug \ Ure lt1 pt .t"
fTICt of mea n cl,c <.! rH: r ~
ton I rJt io
11,h . o,;s ts pro vided by the analogo u~ to th e wiir k r:i tro.
rch I<; dim emio nlc i;s, iii tru ly 26 7
 App l icat ions to Par ticu lar Flui ds

Fig . 12.1 8
Effe ct of com plet e p T
3
expa ns ion on t he
perf orm ance of the D iese l 2--
cycl e 4
I
I
)s
/
2 /
/
/
:;.,-
1

1
V

cycle sho wn in Fig. 12.1 8. In this case

the rejectio n of hea t occurs during a
con stan t pres sure pro cess inst ead of
a con stan t vol ume process. The cycle
efficiency is imp rov ed bec aus e the hea
t rejectio n occ urs at a low er average
tem per atu re ( T5 bein g lower tha n T ).
4 The add itio nal wor k resulting from this
mod ific atio n, howeve r, is obt aine d at the
exp ens e of a disp rop ortio nate increase
in pist on stroke, i.e. the mea n effectiv e
pres sure is redu ced . The actu al engine
based upo n this cycle wou ld therefore
not nec essa rily hav e a higher efficiency
tha n one based upo n the D iesel cycle, and
it wou ld cert ainl y be a larger engine.
T he modified cycl e is in fact the Jou le cycl
e, des crib ed previously in section 12.l,
whi ch has fo und acc epta nce onl y as
a bas is for gas turb ine plant. The
following exa mpl e sho ws the rela tive m(\
gn itud es of the mea n effective pressure
of the Diesel and Joule cycles.

Exa mp le 12.3 A mass of 1 kg of ai r is tak en thro

ugh a Diesel cyc le ( Fig. 12.13b ) and
a Jou le cyc le ( Fig. 1 2.1 ) . Init ially
the air is at 288 K and 1 atm . The
com pressio n rati o v I v for bot h
1 2 cyc l es is 15, and the hea t add ed
185 0 kJ in eac h cas e. Cal cula te is
the idea l cyc le effic iency and mea
effe ctiv e pressure for each cycle. n

For both cycl es

The init ial vol ume of the air is

vt = RT1 = 0.28 7 x 288 = _

P1 0 816 m 3
1.013 25 x 100
Afte r com pres sion ,

T, = T,( ::)'-\ = 288 x 15° = 851 K

4

0.8 16
V1 = - - = 0.054 m 3
15
The tem per atu re rise dur ing hea t add itio
n is give n by
Q23 = cp( T3 - T2 ) = l.00 5(T3 - 851) = 185 0kJ / kg

268
[12. 8 ]
Gas Power Cyc les

and hence
T3 = 2692 K

For the Diesel cycle

V4 V4 Vi 851
- = - - = 15 X - = 4.742
V3 Vi V3 2692
and hence

3 ( 1 )0.4
T4 = T3 - ( V)y- l = 2692 -4.742- = 1444 K
V4

The heat rejected is

Q41 = c11( T1 - T4) = 0.718(288 - 1444) = - 830 kJ /kg

and the net work output is
I WI = Q23 + Q41 = 1020 kJ / kg
Therefore the efficiency is

r, = IWI = 1020 = o.55 1

Q23 1850
The mean effective pressure is

_ _I_
Pm = _ IW = 1020 = 13.4 bar
v 1 - v2 (0.816 - 0.054)100

For the Joule cycle

We have

T. = T,G:r, 2692cs· = = 9ll K

R T4 0.287 x 911 = 2.5 8om3
V4 = P4 = 1.013 25 X 100

The heat rejected is

- T) = 1.005(288 - 911 ) = - 626kJ/ kg
Q41 = c/ T1 4

and the net work is

I WI = Q2 3 + Q4 1 = 1224 kJ / kg
The efficiency is therefore
I WI _ 1224 = o.662
'1 = -Q
23
- 1850
269
 . . s to Part icu lar Fluid s
Appl icat io n
r,~s1
The mean effec tive pressu re is

I JV! 1224
= 4. 85 bar
Pm=
V4 - V2
= (2.580 - 0.05 4) 100
Note th at the net work out~uts coul d have been
calc ul~ted frorn
and the efficiencies fr om eq uations ( 12.1 4) and ( 12.2
) respectively.

12.9 Cyc les hav ing the Car not effi cien cy
The Ott o Diesel and mixed cycles all have effic
' . i encies less than the C
efficienc y based upon the maximum d . . . arnot
. . . an mm1m um tem peratures in the
.
T he Carn ot cycle itself 1s q ui te unsm table as a basi• f .
. . s or a reciprocating ecycle..
using a gas as a wo rkmg fluid becau se the mea n eff~c . ngine
ttve press ure of the cycle
is very small. This should be appa rent from the
thm a ppearance of the cycle
on the p-v diagram in Fig. 12.19. The re are othe
r cycles having the Carnot
efficiency which do not suffe r from this defect and,
alth ough they are of little
practical sign ifica nce at present, they are wor thy of
a brie f men tion here.
Conside r the cycle shown in Fig. 12.20 consistin
g of two cons tant volume
processe s and two isoth erma ls; it is called the Stirl
ing cycle. The heat supplied
duri ng process 2- 3 is equal in quantity to the heat
rejected during process 4-1.
F urthe rm ore, the tempera ture of the fluid varies betw
een the same Limits during
these two processe s. It is there fore theo retically poss
ible for the heat rejected.
Q4 1 , to be returned to the working fluid as Q . Idea lly,
23 this heat tra nsfer can
be accomplished reve rsibly in a regenerator, whic
h consists essentially of a
ma trix of wire gauze or small tubes. Fig. 12.21
illustrate s the principle of
oper ation. A temperature gradient from Ya to I;, is
main taine d alon g the matrix .
The working flu id enters the matrix in state 4, tran
sfers heat to the matrix, and

Fi g . 12. 19
..,.he Carn ot cycle 3
p

pv = cons tant

270
 [12,9]
Gas Powe r Cycles
p 3

,. I

State 4
State 1 \
tnnera.ture
Ga.S te t'
/

Matrix

eraw te
T, '-... Gas te~ ?
b State 2 State 3 Ya

~eaves in state 1; each element of the matrix is raised in temperature by an

infi nitesimal amount. Then working fl uid in state 2 passes in the reverse direction,
cooling each elemen t of the matrix by an infinitesimal amount, and leaving in
state 3. At no time need the working fluid and matrix differ more than
infinitesimall y in temperature, so that the entire heat transfer process is carried
out reve rsibly.
With a perfect regenerator, the only heat added from an external source
3 4
~uring the cycle is that which is transferred during the isotherm al process -
(ie._at T,), and the only heat rejected to an external sink is the quantity transferred
during the isothermal process 1- 2 (i.e. at T,,). It follow s that _the effic_1ency of
the cycle is ( T, - T, )f'f,, . The mean effective pressure of this cycle is much
greate r than that of the Carn ot cycle, and is in fact comparabl~ t? that of the
Ott . t 1 the St1rltng cycle are
0 cycle. Engines which have been built to opera e or
xternal combustion.
· The
.
1n fa t h . ·
. c eat engines in the sense of F ig. 12-1, w it 11 _e, d'fl' \t y of des igning
rna1n . I ss is the i icu ..
reason why such en gines have had lltt e succe
an eff · . • b · a poo r conductor of heat) '
1cient regenerato r of reasonable size ( air eing

271
 Appli cati on s t o Partic ular Fl uids
[1i.s1
Fig. 12.22 p
The Ericss on cycle

wh ich can operate at a sufficiently high temp eratu re. One

end of the regenerator
matrix must be continuously maintained at the uppe
r temperature, and
the maximum permissible temperature is therefore subje
ct to metallurgical
limitations; it cann ot be as high as in reciprocating inter
nal-combustion engines.
Developments in high-temp erature alloys, and impr o
ved kn owled ge of heat
transfer proc esses, have led to new attempts to cons truct
a Stirling engine. These
are described in Ref. 24, and efficiencies as high as th ose achie
ved in compression-
igni tion engin es have been claimed for expe rime ntal engin
es.* Since there are
no restrictions on the type of fuel that can be used, such
engi nes may be useful
fo r military applications and fo r small powe r plan t
in deve loping countries.
Furth ermo re, external combustio n syste ms can be desig
ned to give exhausts
wi th ]ow noxious emis sions, and increasing conc ern
with environmental
pol1u tion may lead to the development of Stirling engin
es for road vehicles.
They would then have to comp ete wit h attem pts to build
Rank ine cycle plant
fo r the same purp ose.
A simil ar cycle - the Ericsson cycle - cons ists of two
consta nt press~re
processes and two isothermals ( Fig. 12.22 ). In this case
the heat rejected dun~g
one cons tant pressure process 1s . retur .
ned via a rege nera tor to the work·ng
1 fluid
during the other cons tant press ure process, and again
. y. Th' . . " the cycle has the Carn~t
effi c1enc ts 1s m 1ac t the same cycle as that depic ted in Fig. · 12·11 and tt
. . 11 -.
was ongina Y prop osed as a basis for a recip roca ting h
engi ne. T e Ericsso n
cycle suffe rs from the same drawback s as the Stirl in g
cycle .

"' A
very successful- -. :Jiquef
air
- ~ - - - --
. ---
-- - - - - - - --
developed and is now .d action plant workin g on the . ,de has also been
w, e1y used . reversed St irh ng c)

272